An Airbus A340 of the Romanian company Legend Airlines was detained on the ground at Paris-Vatry airport

On December 21, Paris-Vatry Airport detained an Airbus A340 of the Romanian company Legend Airlines on the ground. Local authorities have reported the arrival of foreign nationals, 303 in number, mostly Indians.

Vatry airport is closed, secured by the gendarmerie. A plane has been stuck there since Thursday, December 21. Additional checks are being made on the transported persons, they inform union.fr.

This plane took off from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates. It landed around 15pm at Vatry on Thursday 21st December after 8 hours of flying. In theory, it was a technical refueling stop and was supposed to take off again to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, after a technical stop at Vatry.

A prefectural decree, published late Thursday, reports a "significant arrival of foreign nationals." "This flight included 303 passengers of Indian nationality on board," the authorities said on Friday. Some are suspected of being illegal immigrants.

Contacted on Friday morning, the Marne prefecture said: “In this technical stopover, at the request of the judicial authority, the Air Transport Gendarmerie Brigade (BGTA) intervened, and the aircraft, an A340, was immobilized. Initially, passengers remained in the aircraft where they were able to eat. The Vatry airport reception hall has been transformed into a waiting area with individual beds to offer passengers the best possible reception conditions."

Firefighters, gendarmerie and civil protection are on the scene. No departure or arrival is possible at this time. Only the restaurant open to employees in the area is accessible by an external staircase. "This operation forced authorities to divert the 9:40 a.m. Ryanair flight. from Marrakech to Vatry on December 22, 2023", adds the services of the prefecture.